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They made the call at a stakeholders meeting titled Legal Reform for The Tea Sector Workers organized by the Solidarity Center at a hotel in Topkhana area of Dhaka.
TBS report
October 31, 2024, 4:30 PM
Last modified: October 31, 2024, 4:33 PM
Panelists of the Legal Reform for Tea Sector Workers discuss their points during the meeting in the capital’s Topkhana district.
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Panelists of the Legal Reform for Tea Sector Workers discuss their points during the meeting in the capital’s Topkhana district.
Labor experts today (October 31) called on concerned authorities to reform parts of the Bangladesh Labor Act of 2006 to ensure housing, gratuity and temporary leave for tea workers.
They made the call at a stakeholders meeting titled Legal Reform for The Tea Sector Workers organized by the Solidarity Center at a hotel in Topkhana area of Dhaka.
Speaking at the event, Ram Bhajan Kairi, former general secretary of BCSU, said: “It is a discriminatory law that all employees are not eligible for gratuity. If the government tells the sins for which tea workers don’t understand this well, they would. We must all come forward to reform or abolish, if necessary, all sections that deliberately exclude the tea workers from exercising rights that other workers in the sector do.
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Monika Hartsel, Deputy Country Program Director of the Solidarity Center, said: “Although tea workers are covered by the Bangladesh Labor Code, they do not enjoy the same protections as workers in other sectors. In the spirit of the non-discrimination movement, this is an opportunity to think more broadly about the most marginalized groups of workers.”
Solidarity Country Program Director AKM Nasim said: “The tea sector workers have historically been neglected by all. Discussions and work related to tea workers are often sporadic and isolated. There is an urgent need for comprehensive engagement with the tea workers, involving all aspects of their lives and livelihoods. This approach must also take into account that the tea industry must become a sustainable and vibrant sector.’
Other recommendations made at the event included the reform of Section 28 of the BLA on pensions to ensure gratuity for tea workers, the reform of Section 115 of the BLA on temporary leave, the reform of Section 117 on earned leave, the reform from Section 32 of the BLA on deportation to care for tea workers; housing, the inclusion of representatives of the Cha Sramik Trade Union of Bangladesh in the Labor Law Reform Committee and the National Tripartite Advisory Committee, securing the rights of permanent and temporary tea workers, the presentation of a correct calculation of the minimum wage of the tea workers, the inclusion of an elected tea union representative for the safety committee, ensuring the basic needs of tea workers including healthcare during tea garden closures and the implementation of agreements through collective bargaining between Bangladesh Cha Sramik Union and Bangladesh Tea Association.
At the event, BILS Executive Director Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed said: “Wages have been a settled issue since the time of slavery. Tea, a two-hundred-year-old industry, has still not resolved this issue. Workers cannot bear the burden of employers. or it government’s inability to trade. We must put an end to the cruel practice of a tea worker’s children becoming tea workers.
Other panelists at the event included Nripen Paul, Acting General Secretary of Bangladesh Cha Sramik Union (BCSU), Poresh Kalindi, Treasurer of BCSU, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Labor Raza Mia, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Commerce Tarafdar Sohel Rahman, Joint Inspector General of Ministry of Labor Factory and Establishment Inspectorate Mahfujur Rahman Bhuiyan, General Secretary of Bangladesh Labor Bar Association Mohsin Mojumder, Tahsin Ahmed Chowdhury, chairman of the Bangladesh Tea Association Labor Committee, and Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed, executive director of the Bangladesh Institute of Labor Studies.